CHAPTER 6: THE GHOST WHO WALKED BACK INTO THE MANSION
Sofía stared at the photograph.
Her mind refused to accept it.
The human brain had a strange way of protecting itself.
Sometimes it rejected impossible things before it even tried to understand them.
A dead person.
Standing inside the Velasco mansion.
Watching her.
Watching Mateo.
Impossible.
Yet the picture was real.
Her fingers trembled as she enlarged the image.
The quality was poor.
The angle was distant.
But the face was clear enough.
The scar above the eyebrow.
The sharp jawline.
The cold expression.
She knew that face.
Everyone in the medical world knew that face.
Dr. Gabriel Ortega.
The doctor who had disappeared eight years ago.
The doctor who had been declared dead after a car accident.
The doctor whose name had just appeared in Mateo’s erased medical records.
Sofía stood up so quickly the chair behind her fell.
“No…”
The sound escaped her mouth.
Mateo moved slightly in the crib.
She immediately lowered herself.
“Sorry.”
She whispered.
But her eyes never left the phone.
Because suddenly everything connected.
The chemical products.
The missing records.
Her mother.
The secret research unit.
Gabriel Ortega.
This was not a simple case of a baby having an allergic reaction.
This was something much bigger.
Something that had started before Mateo was even born.
“Sofía?”
She turned.
Nicolás stood at the door.
He looked exhausted.
But his eyes were alert.
“What happened?”
She quickly locked her phone.
“Nothing.”
He studied her.
A dangerous silence.
“You are a terrible liar.”
She looked at him.
“And you are very good at hiding things.”
The sentence hit.
Nicolás stepped inside.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Two people who had spent their entire lives reading others.
Now they were reading each other.
Finally, Nicolás said:
“Show me.”
Sofía hesitated.
Then handed him the phone.
His reaction was immediate.
Not shock.
Recognition.
That was worse.
“You know him.”
It was not an accusation.
It was confirmation.
Nicolás looked at the photograph again.
His jaw tightened.
“Where did you get this?”
“Someone sent it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Give me the number.”
“It came from an unknown source.”
Nicolás looked at her.
“Everything has a source.”
Sofía shook her head.
“Not everything.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Sometimes people want you to know they are watching.”
That sentence made Nicolás uncomfortable.
Because he understood exactly what she meant.
This was not a threat.
It was a message.
Five minutes later, Rafael entered the nursery.
Nicolás handed him the phone.
“Find everything.”
Rafael looked at the picture.
His expression changed.
“You recognize him?”
“Yes.”
Rafael became serious.
“That is impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because Dr. Ortega died eight years ago.”
Sofía watched him.
“Are you sure?”
Rafael nodded.
“I personally investigated the accident.”
That surprised Nicolás.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rafael hesitated.
Then answered:
“Because he was connected to a case involving the Velasco family.”
The room became silent.
Sofía looked at Nicolás.
“How many secrets are there?”
Neither man answered.
That answer was worse.
An hour later, Rafael returned.
He placed a tablet on the table.
“I found something.”
Nicolás looked at him.
“What?”
“The photo was not taken today.”
Sofía frowned.
“What?”
Rafael zoomed in.
“The metadata was removed, but the security system captured something.”
He showed the screen.
“The image came from inside the mansion’s old surveillance network.”
Nicolás’s expression changed.
“The old network?”
“Yes.”
“The one disconnected five years ago?”
Rafael nodded.
Everyone became quiet.
Because that meant something terrifying.
Someone had access to a system that should no longer exist.
Someone who knew the mansion better than the security team.
Someone who had been preparing.
Nicolás walked to the basement again.
This time, Sofía followed.
The old surveillance room was covered in dust.
Old monitors.
Old equipment.
Abandoned technology.
But one screen was on.
Impossible.
The green light blinked.
Waiting.
Nicolás approached slowly.
He opened the control panel.
A folder appeared.
No password.
Almost like someone wanted them to find it.
Inside were videos.
Hundreds of them.
Dates.
Times.
Locations.
Sofía felt cold.
“This is not security footage.”
Nicolás looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Security cameras watch places.”
She pointed at the files.
“These watch people.”
The videos were labeled differently.
Not rooms.
Names.
Mateo.
Valeria.
Nicolás.
Elena Reyes.
Sofía stopped breathing.
Her mother's name.
A file existed.
She clicked it.
The video started.
A hospital room.
Eight years ago.
Her mother appeared.
Younger.
Tired.
Standing beside a newborn baby.
Mateo.
Sofía covered her mouth.
She had never seen this moment.
Never.
Her mother touched the baby's hand.
Then looked directly at the camera.
As if she knew someone was watching.
Then Elena spoke.
The audio was weak.
But clear enough.
“Whoever finds this…”
The video glitched.
Static.
Then her voice returned.
“Do not trust the Velasco family.”
Sofía froze.
Nicolás looked at her.
The screen continued.
Elena held a document.
“There is a reason they chose this child.”
The video shook.
Someone entered the room.
Her mother turned.
Fear appeared on her face.
Then the recording ended.
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Because the message was clear.
Elena Reyes had not been protecting Mateo from the outside.
She had been protecting him from inside the mansion.
Nicolás stepped away from the monitor.
His face was unreadable.
“My family…”
He stopped.
For once, the powerful Nicolás Velasco did not have the words.
Sofía looked at him.
“Your mother knew.”
He closed his eyes.
“No.”
“Then who?”
Silence.
A terrible silence.
Then another file appeared automatically.
A hidden file.
Created moments ago.
The title:
THE FIRST CHILD.
Sofía and Nicolás looked at each other.
Neither wanted to open it.
But they both knew they had to.
The video began.
A hospital room.
A woman crying.
A newborn baby.
And a doctor standing beside the bed.
Dr. Gabriel Ortega.
He looked younger.
Healthy.
Alive.
He was holding a folder.
Then he said:
“The experiment failed with the first child.”
A pause.
“But the second child will be different.”
Sofía felt her stomach drop.
Second child?
Who was the first?
The camera moved.
Showing the baby's face.
The recording froze.
Because beneath the image…
A name appeared.
A name that made Nicolás take one step backward.
A name that destroyed everything he believed about his own family.
FIRST SUBJECT: ADRIAN VELASCO.
Nicolás whispered:
“No…”
Because Adrian Velasco was not a stranger.
He was his older brother.
The brother everyone believed died as a child.
The brother whose existence had been erased from every family record.
The brother nobody was supposed to remember.
And now…
They had discovered the truth.
Adrian had not died.
Someone had hidden him.
And whoever hid him…
May you like
Was still inside the mansion.
END OF CHAPTER 6
